Heartbeat
by Patience159
Summary: Tomorrow she was to become a woman, but she'd still go with him in a heartbeat if he asked her.  Oneshot
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This is my first fan fiction story… Ever. I've been wanting to write something for a while, I've just been too scared to post it. But here we are, I've plucked up the courage… Hopefully it won't be too painful to read :D **

**I hope you enjoy it (:**

_**Heartbeat.**_

It had been colder this winter than it had the last. The sky was a very dark blue with only the stars to light it. Small white flakes fell from the heavens and covered the streets in a clean, smooth blanket of snow.

Couples walked beneath, treading their marks onto the previously untouched, brilliant whiteness. Their laughs filled the air and gave the cold, crisp evening a sense of warmth.

I watched as they talked trying to ignore the sick feeling that seemed to be growing in the pit of my stomach. The nursery window was open, as always, and I stood watching the world go by from up here in the safety of childhood innocents… Only I knew that these innocents could never last.

For tomorrow my whole world would change.

There'd be no time for playing, for laughing or for thinking of stories. It'd be the end of imagination and freedom and there was absolutely nothing that I could do about it.

"Wendy?" A quiet voice sounded behind me. I turned to see Michael, dressed ready for bed. Sleep made his eyes look tired as he slowly made his way farther into the nursery. "Mother and father want to speak with you." He mumbled as he climbed into bed and let his head hit the softness of his pillow. I nodded and with a long sigh I took a step back from the nursery window and pulled the wooden ledge down. It closed with a quiet thud and I took my leave, wishing Michael a goodnight before leaving the room.

I turned left and walked towards my own room hoping that the talk with mother and father could wait until tomorrow. My hopes however were dashed as I turned into my room to see mother peering out of the window. I cleared my throat, making my presence known and carried on into the room.

"Michael said you wanted to talk with me?" I asked sitting on the bed and pulling the covers up, over my knees. Mother nodded and turned from whatever was keeping her gaze.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" She asked with a smile that never quite reached her eyes. I stared at her blankly for a second before shaking my head slowly. "But Wendy, tomorrow is your fifteenth birthday" Mother said with that very same smile. "Tomorrow you are to become a woman" I tried to hide my wince as she said _that _word.

Its not that I was against growing up, I'd like to be a _grown up _one day… But the process seemed horrid and on going, like torture.

"Yes." I replied with a nod as my mother perched opposite me on the bed. "But that means parties." I began. "Small talk, tight dresses, pretending to be civil with those you do not like, drinking tea and marriage." Mother let out a soft chuckle as I huffed, feeling helpless in this unchangeable situation.

"You missed out children Wendy." Mother placed a hand on my knee. "Does that seem so horrid too? Becoming a mother? Having a family of your own?" I sighed quietly.

I _did _want children. I wanted to tell them stories, to listen as they made up their own stories, I wanted to watch as they discovered their imagination and lived with no fear of the unknown.

"I _would _like to be a mother." I admitted falling back into the comfort of my bed. "I just…"

"You just what?" Mother asked standing from my bed and moving over to the lamp that lit the room dimly.

"I just whished that I'd have one last adventure before becoming a woman." I whispered trying to swallow the newly formed lump in my throat.

"Wendy," My mother started in a stern voice. "You cannot wait for something that will surely not come." Her voice was of a mater of a fact. I felt helpless and alone in this big room all by myself. "It is time to stop these silly bedtime stories and pull your head out from those clouds." Mother continued pulling the glass up from over the lamp. "You will be a woman tomorrow," My heart dropped in defeat as she reminded me _again _of what I was to become. "A new Wendy." She finished, blowing out the light and placing the glass cover back on top.

"Goodnight mother." I whispered as she kissed me on the forehead and took her leave, closing the door behind her.

I watched the ceiling in silence and allowed my eyes to adjust to the darkness. I thought about tomorrow. How it would be. How I was supposed to act now I was a… A woman.

I thought of who would be there… The boys for sure. Mother, father, aunt, Nana… Everyone.

The long chain on my neck became heavy. I placed a hand on my chest to feel the acorn still there. My reality. My _kiss. _

I thought of _him. _His smile, his eyes and his laugh...

I wondered if he thought of me.

He promised me he wouldn't forget me.

He promised he'd come back.

But now it's too late.

Tomorrow I was to become a woman.

A _new _Wendy.

My eyes stung from what I put down to tiredness and I blinked away the salty water.

I'd go with him in a heartbeat if he asked me.

I closed my eyes reluctantly. If I slept, it would only being tomorrow here sooner… But I could not fight with the heaviness of my eyelids.

With one last tired sigh I surrendered to sleep, trying to banish all thoughts of tomorrow from my mind.

"_Wendy" _

The whisper of a familiar boyish voice coaxed me into my dreams, into where imagination was reality, where I could be whoever I wanted to be… Where I was free.

.

**Okay so here it is… What did you think?**

**I'd love to hear what you thought of my writing or if you have any ideas of what you'd like to see in this story. I can handle constructive criticism too if that's what you have to offer. **

**There is a possibility of this becoming a story rather than a oneshot, I'd just need to think of some ideas.**

**Thanks for reading :D **

**Peace and love, Patience159.**


	2. Chapter 2: This Belongs To You

_**Heartbeat.**_

**Chapter Two: **This Belongs To You.

_Wendy…_

_Wendy…_

_Wendy… _

My eyes shot open. Darkness filled the room. I blinked once, twice, three times trying to determine whether I was dreaming or whether this was reality. I concentrated on breathing for a second and listened for any sort of noise. I turned my head to gaze out of the window. The stars still twinkled and the moon still shone. It was not yet morning.

Sighing, I reached out for the matches that lay on my bedside table. Striking the stick on the sandpaper, the flame thrived on the oxygen around it. I set the match to the lamp and light filtered through the darkness and lit the room.

I blinked again watching the silhouettes grow around the room. It was still night, therefore I was not yet a woman.

I adjusted the chain around my neck and untangled my legs from the mass of blankets that covered them. I swung my feet over the side and stepped quietly onto the carpet below. I walked hesitantly. Taking slow, cautious steps over the landing walkway and into the nursery.

The shadows of the buildings outside leaked in through the large windowpane and made the wooden floor seem like a blackened pit with no end. My breath hitched in my throat as I caught sight of that star. That second one on the right that you must pass before flying straight on until morning.

I knew how to get there… To the place where innocents is alive and imagination is reality. Of course I did. How could I forget? That was my greatest adventure of all… My only adventure. Giving away my hidden kiss had saved Peter. Saved Neverland and yet I felt as though giving away that kiss made it certain Peter wouldn't return… After all why would he when I had nothing to offer?

I made my way quietly and gracefully towards the window and slid it open with ease. The harsh wind blew in and sent shivers down my spine. Hairs on my arms pricked at the cold as I stood on the cold ledge of the nursery window and stared intently at that second star on the right. I listened carefully for a sound I knew I wouldn't hear. I waited for his laugh to ring in my ears, for his fingers to graze my arm… For him to whisper _forget them Wendy, come away to Neverland._

I closed my eyes for a second and replayed the same memories I had been playing for years now. _No. _I thought. _He would not return. _My eyes shot open and my posture stiffened as Big-Ben chimed. _Once, twice_… I felt my heart quicken listening carefully silently praying it wasn't past twelve.

_Nine. _

_Ten._

_Eleven._

And then… Silence.

I left out the breath I never knew I was holding and suppressed the smile that was fighting its way onto my lips.

"This is ridiculous." I scolded myself in a quite whisper. "He will not return for you Wendy. Not as he promised." I continued. "Mother and Father are right. It's time to grow up and put an end to these silly games." I turned on my heel quickly and took a large step back into the nursery then turning again to face the star filled sky for the last time as a child… As me, Wendy. I placed my fingertips on the wooden ledge of the window and set it down as gently but as meaningfully as I could.

Staring at the latch for a second I contemplated whether or not it would be such an unforgiving crime to leave it unlocked… But that thought was soon overcome and I grasped the latch determinedly and flicked it quickly to the left.

There. I'd done it. I was ready to move on.

Or so I thought. As I turned back for my own room I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror. Sure enough there hung my acorn-kiss over my heart, shining in the moonlight beautifully. I sighed deeply and dejectedly and tiptoed back to the window flicking the latch to the right before turning quickly and running back to the safety of my own room… Away from childhood stupidity.

Who was I kidding? Peter was not coming back and I was to be a woman in less than an hour. Time to start acting like it.

"You locked it." A perfect boyish voice came from behind me. I shook my head quickly. Surely I must have been dreaming. The time at the window had tired me and as I had walked back to my own room I had fallen asleep in a sorter time than expected. "Hook told me you would." The voice sounded again. "But I told him I'd open it." My eyes closed and heat flushed through my whole body. My knees became weak and wanted to buckle under my weight as I turned slowly to face the boy who had only visited me in my dreams.

"Peter?" I asked uncertain for I could see no boy or being standing there.

Yes. I had been dreaming.

"Hello Wendy" Peter said in an almost sing-song voice appearing in front of me as though he floated from the heavens. I stood dumbstruck while he simply flashed me that brilliant grin of his.

"You remembered." I choked out in a shaky breath. He nodded standing further into the moonlight. His blue eyes were the first thing I noticed. They still shone with boyish charm and mischief, just like I had remembered. He had however, grown… Or so I thought. He seemed slightly older than before, or maybe I was interpreting him different as I was to be a lady in an hour.

"I told you I would." He grinned at me again and my heart skipped a beat. My hand, against my will, reached up for my acorn-kiss and grasped it firmly letting me know that this was in fact very real. Peter looked down at my hand and saw what I held in it. His grin turned into a smile of wonder before his blue eyes met my brown ones again.

I watched as he searched for something in the pocket of his almost nonexistent trousers. The vines that covered them reminded me of the beauty and nature of Neverland. After a short while my eyes focused on the light of the sliver object being presented in front of me.

My thimble.

I wanted to reach out… To take it in my hand and reminisce on the great adventure that we shared but instead I backed away. Fear overcame my excitement. Peter was here, just like I had wanted… But it was too late.

"I waited along time for you to come back." I told him, blushing as he too took a step forward.

"I'm here now." He told me as though it was a matter of a fact… As though nothing else mattered in the world. He was a boy. There was no doubt in that. He lived for thrills, danger and adrenalin as all children do… And I knew he wanted to forever be a boy and have fun… There was nothing but a dead end for Peter Pan and me. He was too late and I was too old.

"You don't understand Peter." I told him placing my hand on top of his that held my thimble, pushing it down and out of the glare of the moon. I ignored the warmth of his strong slightly calluses hands from practicing and fighting with a sword. Peter looked in all his innocent glory, slightly disappointed at my reaction. "Tomorrow is my birthday." I told him studying his features carefully as I did. "I am no longer a child." I continued hoping he would at least try to understand.

"You are to become a woman?" He asked the hurt obvious in his eyes. I nodded slowly trying to blink back the stinging of tears in my own eyes.

"Tomorrow is the end for us, for Neverland and for you." I told him failing in my attempt to be strong and my salty tears began to trickle gently down my cheeks. "You cannot visit me anymore." Peter's mouth opened and then closed again. His hand reached out for me as he caught a glimpse of the tears that sparkled on my face. "You must leave." I said stepping away meeting with the side of my bed.

"Why?" He asked in a childlike manner looking obviously hurt by the way I was treating him.

"Because I'm growing up." I said bluntly feeling angry that he had chosen this exact day to turn up and see me again.

"Not everyone has to grow up." Peter smiled gushingly. I shook my head and his smile turned into a frown in an instant.

"Yes they do Peter."

"No Wendy." Peter shook his head. "I know you want to be a girl always, and you want to have fun." He laughed and floated effortlessly towards me. The glow of his skin caught in the light and made my heart race once more.

"Maybe you're right." I told him placing my hand out so his chest collided with it. "But that was a long time ago Peter." I pointed out. "You're too late." Peter frowned and took my hand in his own, pushing it away from his chest and letting it fall back at my side. "I waited for you everyday and you never came." I told him as more tears stained my cheeks. "I'm sorry." I said simply. "I can't be your Wendy anymore; I must be someone else's." I physically winced at the immediate hurt that flashed across the blondes face. His posture became more broad and his eyes more dark.

"But we had fun." He told me. "Didn't we?" I nodded once fighting the urge to just fall into his strong chest and let him hold me. "Us, together in Neverland." He continued to try and make sense of the situation we were in. "We had fun." Peter repeated floating again in the air. "I taught you how to fly. How to fight. How to do the fairy dance." He listed checking each off on his fingers. "I showed you adventure."

"You did." I smiled sadly at him. "And I'll never forget you Peter… But to live forever as a girl would be an awfully big adventure… Just as it would be for you to become a man." A sudden outrage grew in Peter Pans eyes and the gentle blue grew into a dark dangerous black.

"I will never be a man." He told me, the pure hatred of the idea spewing into his voice.

"And I will never remain a girl." I whispered. Peter's feet touched down onto the ground silently and his eyes returned to their innocent blue. I noticed that he stared intently at me trying to observe something that remained of his Wendy, the one who had turned him pink. "Please Peter; it's time for you to go." I told him leading him back into the nursery.

We stood for the briefest time at the window. I had pulled up the pane and both of us were stood facing each other, the snow falling outside like Christmas's own fairy dust. "This belongs to you." I said reaching for the chain around my neck. Peter's hand was on my own in a second and his warmth radiated though my nightgown.

"That's my kiss from me to you." He reminded me as though I had forgotten out first meeting here. In this very room on a night exactly like this. "Keep it." I nodded once and took one last meaningful look at Peter Pan… My favourite adventure, before turning back for the second time that night for my room.

"Goodbye Peter." I whispered taking a quick glance at the boys sleeping soundlessly around us.

"Wendy?" Peter whispered in a voice so lonely and yet so strong that my thumping heart ached for him. "I miss your stories." He whispered again but this time in my ear. I tried my hardest not to jump as the warmth of his breath tickled my neck. "Can you tell me what happened to Sleeping Beauty?" My eyes closed for a second as I searched for the right words in my mind.

"The Prince kissed her." I began. "She awoke from her sleep and they lived happily ever after." I heard Peter sigh faintly, most probably at another sappy ending which never involved the magnificent fight and blood that he wanted. "Now, goodbye Peter."

"No! Wait!" He called stopping me in my stride. "Come with me." Peter whispered.

My heart sank.

How could he ask this of me now? On this day, he asks this of me.

"Peter-" I tried to reason with him before he appeared as if by magic in front of my eyes, pleading me with what looked like his best puppy-dog face.

"Come with me Wendy." He said again taking my hands in his own. "Come with me to Neverland."

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**Thank you so much for the people that reviewed, I am so grateful you took the time to read my story! I feel a sense of excitement when you guys tell me that you like my writing, really no joke. **

**I'm not sure how this chapter really turned out or if I like where the story is going… I haven't planed what is going to happen next at all so I'd love to hear some ideas.**

**Thank you again, hope you liked it.**

**Peace and love, Patience159 x**


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